In the 1950s, Stewart Stern defined teen angst with his screenplay for "Rebel Without A Cause." His other screenplays, including "The Outsiders" (1961) and "The Ugly American" (1963) cemented his reputation for exposing the nightmares of the American dream.
In the 1970s, his teleplay "Sybil" won him an Emmy and gave Sally Field a chance to show off her acting chops as a schizophrenic patient.
In 1980s and 1990, his books "Stelle Emigrante" and the 1996 "Celluloid Closet" won him rave reviews for his insight into his times and the craft of writing.
Actors, writers and directors list his works as major inspirations. Yet, his overall body of work is somewhat small and the gaps in his resume can stretch for a decade or more.
Some time ago, Stern moved from Hollywood to Seattle, becoming a genial guest at film forums and an accomplished teacher on the art of screenwriting.
How Stern ended up in Seattle and why his career stalled and restarted so many times is the subject of a new documentary "Going Through Splat: the Life and Work of Stewart Stern."
Filmmaker Jon Ward met Stern in the 1990s.
"I was publishing a newsletter on independent filmmakers and interviewed Stewart. He was so engaging," Ward remembered. Also living in Seattle at that time and working on his first screenplay, Ward would ask Stern for advice and the two became friends. "Almost every Monday night, we used to get together and have dinner or go to a movie."
Those Monday night dinners turned into longer discussions of films, filmmaking and life in general.
In 1998, Stern finally agreed to let Ward tape their conversations for a documentary. "He's a slow writer so we had to make this film slowly as a tribute to him," said Ward, with his tongue only partially lodged in his cheek.
Eventually, Ward filmed 70 hours of interviews with Stern. During the same period, Ward also moved to Hollywood and began selling his own scripts to major studios, only to see them vanish into the black hole called preproduction.
None of his scripts have reached the screen yet, said Ward, which gave him certain sympathy with Stern's own frustrations with the Hollywood scene.
Recently, Ward moved back to Seattle. Between bouts of writing his first novel he worked on the documentary. The decision to spend the last 18 months editing the hours of interviews with Stern and others influenced by his work may have cost Ward his own Hollywood career.
Ward lost his Hollywood agent when he told him that he was going to pass on some possible screenwriting assignments in order to get the documentary done.
"It's either the best decision I've ever made or the worst," he said.
But it's a decision not unlike the many career changes made by his friend Stern.
The title of the film comes from Stern's own advice to always try to take that leap into the unknown, even if you're afraid of how it is going to work out. "His own life represented a series of working through things that went splat," said Ward. "It accurately reflects his theory of life."
Stern was always willing to visit new places and meet new people in pursuit of his story ideas. Ward has been advertising the film with a photo taken of Stern and director Fred Zinnemann on shore of the Sea of Galilee (see photo above). Stern is hunched over a portable typewriter while Zinnemann looks on.
The photo comes from a 1948 research trip with Zinnemann and actor Montgomery Clift.
"Stewart brought along his typewriter everywhere he went," Ward said. Stern also seemed to show up at the right time and the right place to witness many of the major events of the 20th century.
One of the women who helped Ward edit the film called Stern a "Forrest Gump" who was always right there when history happens. "He just takes you on a journey through North America, Asia and more," Ward said.
Right now, Ward and Stern are on their own cross-country trip, showing "Going Through Splat" at various film festivals. They'll be at the Sunday, May 29, 6 p.m., screening of their documentary at the Egyptian Theatre as part of the Seattle International Film Festival.
Ward expects to field the first question from the audience and then turn the microphone over to Stern. That has become their usual routine for screenings, as so many people in the audience want to talk to Stern.
"We always end up running over the time allotted for questions. Then the people follow us out in the lobby and keep asking questions. At least, one person in the audience is always physically moved to tears when they talk about the effect that Stewart's films had on their life," Ward said.
Ward is not sure what will happen with his documentary after the festival showings. But he is optimistic.
"The realistic plan is a release on a pay television channel like Sundance. Ideally, we'd like to have a small theatrical run in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Seattle," he said. "I have several hours of outtakes that we could add to a DVD. It would make a wonderful box set with some of his films that aren't available now."
Advance ticket information for "Going Through Splat" and other SIFF films playing this week can be found through the SIFF Web site, www.seattlefilm.org, or by stopping by the SIFF single-ticket outlet at the Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway.
Rosemary Jones writes about arts and entertainment for the Capitol Hill Times. Reach her at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.Arts on the Hill[[In-content Ad]]
